Roy Hibbert is owed $30.4 million over the next two seasons (the second of those is a player option), which is a lot for a player who went on mental walkabout the second half of last season. He played in the All-Star Game but by the end of the season his PER had fallen to 13.5 — below the league average — which was indicative of his poor play. Then in the playoffs he posted multiple 0-0 games (averaging 9.3 points and 5.5 rebounds a game) as the Pacers went from looking like contender to a team that was lucky to make the conference finals.

As you might imagine, the Pacers might like to get out from under Hibbert’s deal and think there might be a team willing to bet that a change of scenery brings them the best defensive big man in the game, the one from a couple of years ago.

But, according to multiple front-office sources, the Pacers have quietly sought out possible new landing spots for their enigmatic big man.

“I would say they’ve been doing that, but quietly,” one front-office source said.

The Pacers had thought that if they kept their core together they could grow a contender and for a long time it looked that way, but the second half of last season shook that belief to the core. Now the Pacers are looking at their options.

They have made a five-year, $44 million offer to Lance Stephenson and are not likely to budge off that ballpark. Stephenson doesn’t like it but isn’t having much success finding other offers yet (that could change after the Carmelo Anthony/LeBron James free agency bottleneck breaks). The Pacers have shopped George Hill and others, basically anyone save Paul George is available (although David West would be next to impossible to get).

“They’re open to making major changes, if they’re there,” one general manager told Sporting News. “I think they’d be disappointed to see that same core group back intact, so it is a matter of, how drastic can the changes they make be? Moving Hibbert for multiple pieces would be a pretty drastic change, but they’re asking.”

I can’t see another team taking on Hibbert right now, unless the Pacers threw in a sweetener (future pick for example).

The Pacers literally did pay him for elite paint defense, which is really valuable, how is that hard to fathom? That’s what he provided for 3.5/3.75 years, then they only got it in doses at the end of last year.

Again, you didn’t think Roy Hibbert was Patrick Ewing, did you? Even last year when his numbers absolutely plummeted he averaged 13.0 ppg and 8.0 rpg per 36 mins for the season, not fantastic by any stretch, but not horrible especially when you consider his defense.

He isn’t a stats guy, clearly. He’s on the opposite end of the spectrum of Kevin Love, who’s stats are inflated.

Swap the awful contracts of Eric Gordon and Hibbert. Give the Pacers some scoring to replace Stephenson and give the Pelicans the duo of the offensively inept Asik and Hibbert to split the minutes at the 5 with Davis and Anderson at the 4

Is this yet another miscalculation by Bird? Hibbert was the primary reason the Pacers had the #1 defense in each of the last two seasons. Hibbert was the primary reason the Pacers were contenders in each of the last two seasons. If they lose him they lose everything that made them formidable.

It really didn’t matter what he was doing on the offensive end or how many rebounds he pulled down – he had that much of an impact just protecting the rim.

Only thing Larry miscalculated was Hibbert’s woman giving it to Paul George. Dude hasn’t been the same since. A change of scenery is just what’s in order. Of course with Lance and Roy gone, PG, DWest and a bunch of stiffs would be lucky to make the playoffs even in the watered-down east.

The way the pompous Indy blowhard fans carried on about the team by the midway point of last season, I can’t hardly feel sorry for them.

Nah, they’ll stick to PG and milk him through his prime right until the trade deadline about 5 years from now. He’ll likely demand a trade much sooner, but won’t have any leverage there. Of course with his big salary along with West’s and the middling draft picks they’ll get as a result of being a borderline playoff team, they’ll be stuck there in NBA purgatory for another decade.

Well played Indy. Great way to give those cow tipping inbreds the worst thing you can ever give them: hope.

Not sure Hibbert gets traded. And to your point Anti, he is reason they had one of the best defenses. They need a legit point guard that moves the ball. They get so stale after 10-15 seconds it really is hard to watch. That continued to put pressure on the defense.Still, they got to the ECF again. Had their offense been better, (Vogel playing better combinations from the bench), who knows what they could have accomplished.

Another miscalculation? Getting PG and Lance in the same draft is better than what most GMs do in a career. Bird has a lot more hits than misses in his career as an exec.

And Hibbert was signed to that awful max deal the year Bird was away from the team. As a Pacers fan who has watched Roy in good and bad I’d be glad to see him gone if the price is right. He is just terrible and his offensive woes hurt the whole team. I don’t care how good a defender he is they still need some output from his offensively. Those donut games are inexcusable.

From an opposing fan’s point of view, Hibbert was something like the heart of your team. The team went as he went. If he was on the bench, teams could score at will. When he was in the game, everything was just a grind. He was really a major pain in the a–, more so than anyone else on the team. The only thing as annoying was West hitting all of his jumpers.

So I don’t know… I wouldn’t get rid of Hibbert… I know Pacers fans are sick of his offense, but when teams face the Pacers they’re not even thinking about Hibbert’s offense. They will still have problems dealing with him if he scores 0 points or 20.

I trust Larry Bird to do the right thing in terms of basketball. He is the only person in NBA history to win MVP, finals MVP, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year.
If he wants to trade Roy Hibbert then go ahead… he traded for him when no one thought he would be successful in the NBA.
Paul George is the only untouchable player on this roster.

I remember when everybody was saying that Bird couldn`t trade Jermaine O`Neal and his huge contract but he found away to not only trade him but get a 1st round pick that turned into Hibbert in the deal.Hibbert is good enough defensively,young enough & big enough that you can trade him even with that contract.It`s not that much more than Chandler`s the question is can you get enough to make it worth blowing things up.They won`t just give him away to get out of the contract.

I would love for the Portland Trailblazers to make a move and get Hibbert. The Blazers are in such a huge need for a elite rim protector. Lopez is decent but Hibbert is elite. You put Hibbert beside LA and he would have a career year. I think those 0-0 games will not happen with their core of talent. I know this will never happen but it should.

Robin Lopez did well for you guys after literally improving every year he’s been in the league. Hibbert is trash, almost beyond trash literally. Why would you want him? Have you seen what he did after the all star break? On top of that with his ugly contract you’d still take that?

A change of scenery might be good for him. Truth or rumors, the guy had issues regarding either teammates or the front office. He voiced his views concerning players on the team and the signing of Bynum. Sounds like he takes offense to a lot of things and gets sensitive about it. Trading him may good for all involved. He still a serviceable center, and a new team may re-inspire him to play like he did the previous year and first half of the season.

Orlando Magic would take Hibbert I bet. He had a bad stretch when his girl cheated on him with Paul George, but if you get him out if Induana I think he can be dominant again. Orlando has the cap space and love of big men to take him.